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Heading back the way I’d come, I emerged from the woods, the sun nearly at its peak now. I shifted, retrieved my clothes, and went in search of my alpha.
He was on the phone in his office down the hall from mine when I walked in. He must have seen something on my face because he immediately told the person on the other end of the line that he had to go.
“Garrett.” He stood and walked around his heavy wooden desk. “What’s up?”
“We need to talk.”
Holden regarded me with wariness in his eyes. “Is this about the Contention?”
I nodded once. “I really don’t want this, Holden.”
He scraped a hand over his jaw and closed his eyes, breathing out a heavy sigh as he gestured to the couches on the far side of the room. “Have a seat.”
I did as he requested then made my last-ditch effort to get out of this. “I understand why you want me to do this. Really, I do. I want the alphas on board with our changes just as much as you do.”
“I believe you,” he said quietly, steepling his fingers under his chin. Of course, he did. He knew me better than anyone—could practically read my mind. “Which is why you must see this is the best way to achieve our goals.”
“It’s an option,” I allowed. “But that doesn’t mean I want this for myself.” I took a deep breath. “My life is devoted to you, to our pack. A mate isn’t something I’ve ever wanted. You know this.”
He angled his head. “Yes. But why, Garrett? Why are you so opposed to having a mate?”
“Other than the fact that it’s not on my terms? Who’s to say I’ll be interested in any of the women who compete?”
Holden gave me a wry grin. “I’ve never known you not to be interested in a woman.”
I sighed in frustration. “You know what I mean. Dating a woman is one thing. Committing to her for the rest of my life is something else entirely.”
“Are you afraid of commitment, my friend?”
“That’s not the point,” I replied.
“Isn’t it?” Holden challenged, his gaze fixed on me. “I know you, Garrett. Perhaps even better than you know yourself. At least when it comes to this. I’ve watched you over the years, never letting anyone get too close. Never keeping anyone around for too long.”
It wasn’t that I was afraid of commitment. Not exactly. But I’d seen true love—in my parents, with Holden’s parents, and with Holden himself. How he and Kayden felt toward each other was a once-in-a-lifetime kind of love. The kind that made everything else pale in comparison.
I’d also seen firsthand what that kind of love could do to a person, and the suffering they endured when they lost the one person who meant the world to them. I had no desire to follow in my parents’ footsteps when it came to that.
“Holden, think about what you’re asking of me. You want me to find a mate—to choose a woman I don’t even know to spend the rest of my life with.”
“Yes, I am. Don’t act like I don’t know how you feel. I was in your exact same position less than a year ago.”
I gritted my teeth and shook my head. “Yeah, but you had your entire life to get used to the idea. You always knew you’d have a Contention and choose your mate that way. This has been sprung on me out of nowhere.”
“True…” he allowed, “… but what’s to say you won’t find the woman of your dreams? Everything you’ve ever wanted?”
“Be realistic, Holden,” I snapped. “The chances of that happening are slim to none.”
“I found my fated mate.” His expression softened. “You never know what might happen.”
I rolled my eyes. “Right. Okay.”
“Garrett… please consider this.” It wasn’t often that Holden pleaded for anything. Then again, he pretty much always got his way. “If for nothing else, do it for the pack.”
“Now you’re just playing dirty.”
“Am I? You know as well as I do how many challenges we’re up against. Packs are going rogue, fighting over territories and disregarding the new laws we’ve put in place. They want to keep things as they’ve always been and aren’t open to change. Amelia becoming the first female alpha is only the beginning of what we’re up against. Our country needs unity now more than ever, especially if we want to bring the older alphas around to our way of thinking.”
My stomach was in knots, even though I’d known this was how things would go down.
